About

Hello biker blokes and biker birds everywhere!
My blog will hopefully reflect a lifetime of passion for all 2 wheelers(motorised that is)from my first 2 wheeler-a Mod Lambretta at aged 16 in 1966, to an early retirement to biking heaven in rural Central France,where I like to get dirty on the trail and squirrely on the piste!All this accompanied by my long suffering family-Ann ,my wife of 38 years and my son John 26 year old-both steeped in the law of the velocoped,and both accomplished riders(probably better than me in fact -SHHHHH!)
I,ll take you through the 60,s70,s80,s90,s00,s aboard a variety of bikes,on road,on track and offroad-hopefully with a laugh or two along the way, and a touch of nostalgia for a time when roads were more or less deserted,speed restrictions DIDNT restrict anybody,ramblers were happy to do just that and racers tried to keep both wheels on the ground!
This year is going to be OUR year of the bike

To this end I bought a Hymer camping car in Germany last October to extend our biking range in France; This year I hope to get some serious biking in.-on the track and in the dirt!

DIRT FIRST
Just bought a brand new 125 gasgas pampera (4stroke) for Ann and a Beta Alp 200 for me to accompany her on,as my Gas Gas 250 Enduro is a bit too full on. for gentle greenlaneing.
Later this year(when the snow has melted)we hope to ride the Via del sale-300 plus kms of mountain trails between the Italian side of the Alps and Briancon on the French side.If time permits we will explore sections of the Pyrenees as well.I shall be posting full reports for those of you who are interested.

Friends who came trailriding with me when I was part of GREEN MOUNTAIN TRAIL TOURS may like to know that I am now organising informal trail riding trips here in the Limousin for riders bringing their own machines.Accomodation can be arranged and 2 or 3 day trips will be guided by myself-expect to do about 100/120 kms OFFROAD per day(no gates to open or close down here)As well as hundreds of local trails in the Limousin Parc Naturel which we used on previous tours,a new itinerary now offers more challenging terrain for the more experienced groups:-
Lake Vassiviere ,east of Limoges and home to the infamous Gilles Lalay enduros . There are some awesome hills,not for novices to be sure!
Ambazac mountains north of Limoges-rocky and technical, forsure!
More info available pkcheetham@wanadoo.fr

ONTRACK
Having had a taster of French trackdays at Le Vigeant(val de vienne circuit near Poitiers)over the last couple of years,we have decided to both get French FFM race licences this year ,which gives us access to training days on the majority of French road race circuits.To this end I have just bought a cheap FZR600 Yamaha off French Ebay to follow(literally!)my wife around the race circuits of France on her very special FZR400SP-a bike made for the vertically challenged,but deceptively nimble in the right hands.
Again I,ll keep you posted.

All that travelling and riding-It will be a chore,no doubt,but somebody has to do it.

Bye for now